New mobile phones

New mobile phones in depth

New mobile phones are bringing us innovative features and fresh ways to communicate all the time. They’re also becoming ever more powerful and faster, with some high end new mobile phones now boasting the processing capability of a laptop.

What do new mobile phones offer?

Better e-mail: Where once upon a time you’d have had to pull down your email from a server, new mobile phones are increasingly equipped with push email. This works by sending messages directly to your handset, making the process significantly quicker.

Applications: The term 'applications' refers to software that can be downloaded to your new mobile phone and which might include everything from games to useful apps like a routefinder or a calorie counter. If you select a new mobile phone that supports applications, you’ll be able change the functionality of your handset any time you like.

QWERTY keyboards: Slide out, physical keyboards with a typewriter-style QWERTY layout are now a standard feature of a host of new mobile phones. They allow users to input large amounts of text much times quicker than if they were using a touchscreen or fiddly traditional numeric keypad.

Faster internet access: HSDPA support, which also allows you to download content much quicker, is a feature of most new mobile phones. 3G network compatibility, meanwhile, make for a superfast web browsing experience.

Powerful processors: As mobile phones become ever more function-rich, they also require more hardware resources. Thankfully, most new mobile phones nowadays are installed with brawny processors that allow you to use the phone’s features and apps simultaneously with no lag at all.

Touchscreens: New mobile phones often feature a touchscreen, which is a display that lets you access features, scroll through menus and input text simply by touching the screen. This a brilliant and intuitive way to use a handset far removed from cramped, traditional keypads.

Innovative new looks: Mobile phone design is changing all the time, with new mobile phones showcasing the very best and most avant-garde looks around. Investing in a hot new mobile phone is a brilliant way of standing out from the crowd.

Skype: Skype is a means of making free calls over the internet to other people on Skype for as long whenever you like, wherever you like. Most new mobile phones now allow you to download a Skype application free of charge to make free and cheap calls home and abroad.

Eco-friendly features: The very latest new mobile phones are becoming greener all the time thanks to the use of recycled materials, longer life batteries and innovative ways to charge your handset.

Better cameras: The very best new cameraphones boast imaging capabilities that put even dedicated digital cameras to shame. New mobile phones feature everything from high-grade 12-megapixel cameras to advanced sensors and brilliant image editing software.

Greater customisation: New mobile phones offer the chance to choose the layout of your homescreen, allowing you to customise exactly the features and content you want it to display, such as the latest weather and stock updates, your social networking feeds, your daily agendas and more. This makes using your new handset quicker and more convenient than ever.

Console quality games: The incorporation of motion sensitive technology, called accelerometers, in new mobile phones has brought fun, Wii-style gaming to handsets for the first time. Powerful graphics processors also enable new handsets to render truly beautiful and immersive visuals.

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Choosing a new mobile phone

Your key consideration when choosing a new mobile phone is that the handset meets your needs. For instance, if you use your phone extensively for web browsing it makes sense to invest in a new mobile phone with 3G/HSDPA support.

By the same token, businessmen who make much use of mobile email could save precious time every day by opting for new mobile phone with push email capability.

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What can we expect from new mobile phones in years to come?

In years to come, new mobile phones are set to become faster, more powerful and boast features which we can barely imagine now.

Expected to arrive over the next few years, super-fast 4G mobile phone networks will allow new mobile phone owners to get online and download content at speeds of up to 100Mb.

Other developments will include much greener mobile phones in keeping with environmental legislation, as well as games that easily bear comparison with the very best that console gaming can offer.

Want to know more? Read our guide to the future of mobile phones